Can You Play Arms Race In CS2?

After many requests from fans of this mode, it is now back and officially available as the CS2 Arms Race Mode. Located under the War Games category, you can now play one-round matches with infinite respawns and no time limit, as you rush to score kills with different weapons at differnet levels. 

Whether you are looking to put some practice in, want to warm up for competitive ranked play, or simply miss the Gun Game badly, the counter strike go arms race mode has got you covered in 2024!  

The Arms Race Mode in CS2 is a game mode that allows you to play more freely, without any of the usual round structure seen in ranked CS gameplay. In essence, it is a Deathmatch but focused on what you kill your opponents with rather than how many times you frag them. 

With the February 6, 2024 Valve update the Arms Race Mode in CS2 became available again, much to the satisfaction and joy of those who enjoyed playing the original Gun Game mod. The CS2 arms race mode is a great way for players to warm up for ranked matches, master specific weapons, or just have some fun. 

And there is a lot of fun to be had in this mode. It features just one round, with none of the usual CS2 gameplay mechanics. There are no buy menus, no money rewards, you can’t discard weapons and you respawn immediately after getting killed. 

The goal of the game mode is to use each weapon for two kills. There is a set of different weapons available, each weapon marking a differnet level. As you progress through the weapon levels, you immediately get the next weapon, aiming to reach level 16.  It is represented by the Gold Knife, which, when used successfully for a kill wins you the match.

Gameplay in Counter Strike go arms race mode revolves around racing to be the first one to unlock the Gold Knife. There are 12 players in a round, divided into two 6-player teams (Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists).

Once the round starts, you are awarded a random weapon, which is the same for each player at the start. As you play, the goal is to unlock the next level weapon, and so on, until you reach the last level. 

You can level up with your weapon in three distinct ways: 

1. Score 2 kills with your current level weapon.
2. Kill a team leader (this doesn’t count if you are a team leader yourself).
3. Use the standard knife to kill any enemy team member. 

Every time you respawn, you end up with the weapon representing the last level you unlocked, and a knife. There is one exception to this rule – if you are killed by a regular knife or die by suicide, you drop one level, so you’ll respawn with the weapon from the previous level. 

For a team to win the game, one team member has to level up through all the weapons and score a kill using the Gold Knife, which is always the final level weapon. Only one Gold Knife kill on either side is enough to win the match for the respective team. 

How to Launch CS2 Arms Race Mode 

Since the February 6, 2024 update, you can launch CS2 in Arms Race Mode directly from the main game menu. If you don’t have the updated installed yet, then the very first step is to launch Steam and get it done. 

After installing the update, follow these steps: 

1. Launch the latest version of the CS2 game; 
2. Navigate to the ‘Play’ menu, located in the middle of the top of your screen; 
3. Using the ‘Matchmaking’ tab, choose the Arms Race Mode; 
4. Wait for the server to match you up with others, select your team, and play! 

Round Structure & Time Limits

Once you launch CS2 arms race and enter Matchmaking mode, you’ll join a round that has no time limit. So far, though, one round has been shown to last an average of 10-15 minutes. During this time, a player usually manages to score a Gold Knife kill and win it for his time. 

Officially, though, there is no preset time limit, unless you are in Private Matchmaking mode. In this case, the admin can set up a time limit of their choosing. 

Most people used the original Gun Game Mode in CS to warm up before joining ranked matches or to practice using different weapons. The CS2 arms race mode is the same with no ranked mode available. This means that you are free to join and/or leave whenever you feel like it. Simply dropping out of a match is not going to affect your trust factor at all. 

During Arms Race Mode gameplay in CS 2, you are safe from friendly fire, allowing you to play freely and more aggressively, 

Killing sprees are possible in this game. You could earn a you eliminate 4 or more enemies in a row. Your efforts get recognized by the”[player handle] is on a killing spree!!!!!!” message, and you also receive a Medi-Shot as a reward. 

Weapon Rotation & Levels

The Counter Strike go arms race mode is all about weapon proficiency, so a lot of emphasis is placed on the main tools of the FPS trade. The goal, as previously mentioned, is to go through the entire weapons inventory available in this mode, scoring 2 kills with each weapon: 

• 1 automatic rifle
• 1 sniper rifle
• 4 assault rifles
• 1 machine gun
• 3 submachine guns
• 1 heavy pistol
• 3 pistols
• 2 shotguns
• Knife

The weapon rotation changes in every round and is random. For example, you might get the AWP at level 6 in one round but then get the Glock-18 in level 6 of the next round. It is only certain that the Gold Knife is last, and that you’ll get the same number of weapons per category as the list above. 

Death and Spawning 

Respawns in CS2 Arms Race mode are immediate, and you end up with the same weapon you had before death. The only two ways to respawn with a weapon level down are to be killed by a knife or die by your hand. 

After respawning, you are safe from harm for a short time and can move around freely. If, however, you start firing your weapon immediately after respawning, this invulnerability period does not count. 

The Role Of The Team Leader

Team Leaders have an important role to play in CS2 Arms Race Mode, as killing one can launch you up a level immediately. Since they have a literal target on their back, only the most experienced FPS players should take upon this role in Arms Mode CS2 rounds. 

You can recognize team leaders by their distinct glow after they fire their weapons The glow is red for terrorists and blue for counter-terrorists. However, if you are the team leader, you won’t be able to see the other team leader’s glow, nor earn a level-up by killing them. 

What is New in the 2024 Update

Apart from re-introducing the much coveted Arms Race mode for CS2, the new February 6 2024 update also brought about a few more new features: 

• Stickers that you can now place on your guns; 
• Imaginary walls can’t block player pings anymore; 
• A new music kit, and
• Additional graphic details, like shadows from smoke. 

There are two official Counter Strike go arms race maps that are very well known to fans of the original Guns Game Mode; Baggage and Shoots;

1. Baggage is a symmetrical map set at an airport, resembling the original Nuke map. The updated version of Baggage includes an improved texture and more lively colors. 
2. Shoots is another deathmatch map favored by many, featuring diagonal spawns and originally set in Vietnam. The CS2 Arms Race mode version of this map is set in Mexico, though, reminiscent of the Ancient map. 

Of course, community-based Arms Race Mode maps were quick to follow the official update released by Valve, so now the list of maps you have at your disposal in addition to Baggage and Shoots, includes the following: 

• Lake 
• Lunacy 
• Monastery 
• Pool Day 
• Safehouse 
• 730 
• St. Marc

Unless you’ve played an Arms Race mode in any FPS game before, you need to know that it is not just like your everyday deathmatch round. While it does require less strategising than playing CS2 in ranked mode, there are some tactics that wil certainly come in useful: 

• Stay On The Move – The more you move, the less likely an enemy is to kill you by predicting your position. The pace of gameplay is very fast anyway, so you don’t want to give your enemies a stationary target. 
• Go After The Leader – Unless you are the team leader of your team, gunning for the enemy team leader is always a good idea. It awards you an immediate level up, and you can recognize them easily by their glow. 
• Learn Your Weapon – You can’t play the same using a sniper rifle and a knife, and, as you’ll have to use both to win, you’ll need to develop different tactics for differnet weapons.
• Practice Knife Fighting – Speaking of weapon mastery, you’ll need to kick your knife skills up a few notches as knife kills bring you the most in terms of rewards in CS2 Arms Race Mode.
• Watch The Corners – Tying in with constantly staying in motion, you need to be very weary and aware of dangers lurking around corners. Given the pace of the game, chance encounters around corners are highly likely, so be ready.to engage. 

Playing CS2 Arms Race Mode is a great alternative to the standard CS gameplay, which can get tedious sometimes, especially if you lose often and have to wait out the rounds. Arms Race Mode will not only provide a more dynamic challenge but will also make you better at using all the weapons in the game while still keeping you in a competitive setting. 

The latest update by Valve means that you can access this mode directly through the game menu and enjoy matches with people of all levels and ranks. Seeing as the update also removes some annoying game bugs and introduces lots of new features, opting for Arms Race Mode is a great way of diversifying your CS2 experience and getting boatloads of experience!